Grml is a bootable live system (Live-CD) based
on Debian. It is not
necessary to install anything to a harddisk. Grml includes a
collection of GNU/Linux software especially for system
administrators. It specializes on administrative tasks like
installation, deployment and system rescue.

grml-small provides a reduced set of available software compared to
grml-full. It provides the same Linux kernel image as grml-full and is
fully binary compatible. Choose the grml-small flavour if size - for
whatever reason - really matters to you.

The switch from file-rc to systemd happened for various reasons.
Grml used file-rc for many years, mainly because it provided a better
way to control startup behavior via its /etc/runlevel.conf configuration
than with using sysvinit. Though for us Grml developers this also meant
that whenever there have been any changes in Debian's startup
configuration we had to compare our /etc/runlevel.conf setup with what a
normal Debian system would give us. Users who wanted to remaster Grml
with a custom startup procedure as well had to practically fork
maintenance of the /etc/runlevel.conf file. This didn't only mean
tracking new features/services, but also solve any possible issues
around it - duplicating efforts and wasting developers time
unnecessarily. Lately we also started to see problems that no one else
seemed to have (or care about enough), for example with multiple network
cards we ran into race-conditions with resolvconf. Problems like that
turned out to be release stoppers for us.

systemd on the other hand provides great documentation, service
supervision, takes care of parallel service startup and is the default
init system on most Linux distributions nowadays. This means more users,
better testing and integration. Logging, startup time investigation (to
get a fast boot procedure) and identifying failed service startups with
sysvinit/file-rc was always hard, unreliable or even impossible under
certain conditions. bootlogd was unreliable (while `journalctl -b` is
available out-of-the-box with systemd), bootchart not nicely integrated
(while systemd-analyze blame/critical-chain works out-of-the-box) and we
aren't aware of any equivalence for e.g. `systemctl --failed`.

While migrating our stack to systemd is not fully finished
yet, its switch - at least so far - was easier than expected. It also
turns out that it gives users who want to remaster Grml (or build their
very own ISOs from scratch using grml-live) more flexibility and control
over the startup process. systemd's override.conf mechanism and preset
feature provides the flexibility to overwrite unwanted behavior, without
losing the option to use existing defaults.

Last but not least we think it's good that systemd is actively
maintained and receives attention. The sysvinit/file-rc ecosystem was
stagnating/non-existend for too many years. Grml used its own initrd
implementation in its very beginnings, until a more broadly available
initramfs-tools/ live-boot solution appeared, broadening the user base,
sharing goals amongst different (live) distributions. Back in the days
Grml - like many other live distributions - had to implement hardware
recognition on its own. While udev received lots of complaints back
then, its integration actually solved all the hardware recognition for
the good. systemd's vision of stateless systems is something which helps
building live systems like Grml.

While we don't claim that systemd is perfect and doesn't have its
issues and drawbacks (like any software), we're happy about its
existence and more than happy about development and support by Debian's
systemd folks.

There are no default passwords - all accounts are locked by
default for security reasons. Even local logins are not
possible (unless you set a password or create new user
accounts as root). You can create valid passwords using "sudo
passwd [username]" from the shell individually. To set a password
for users 'root' and 'grml' and enable SSH login you can use the 'ssh'
boot option, like 'ssh=yourpassword'.

By default Grml uses english settings. But it is possible to
change the settings via using either the bootparam(s) lang,
keyboard and xkeyboard or via executing grml-lang when Grml is
already running. Usage examples:

grml lang=de # enter this at the bootprompt and you will get
# german keyboard layout and german $LANG, $LC_ALL,
# $LANGUAGE...
grml keyboard=de xkeyboard=de lang=at # enter this at the bootprompt
# and you will get german keyboard and austrian
# language variables
% grml-lang de # enter this in the shell to switch keyboard layout
# and $LANG settings in a running Grml system

Note: run grml-setlang to get a dialog based frontend for
/etc/default/locale. Run grml-setkeyboard to get a dialog
based frontend for /etc/sysconfig/keyboard.

Of course running from CD/DVD is a common way to boot
Grml. But Grml provides many more ways to boot:

It is possible to boot Grml via USB (e.g. USB stick or
harddisk), firewire, or running from a Compact Flash disk. It
works out of the box; you don't need to modify anything. Check
out the usb
webpage in the grml-wiki for more details.

Your computer can not boot from CD-ROM but provides a
floppy disk? Take a look
at btmgr, ubcd4win
or sbm. They
provide support for booting from CD-ROM via a special floppy
disk.

grml-terminalserver makes it possible to boot your system
via network
using PXE
(Preboot Execution Environment). If your network card does not
provide support for booting via PXE you can still boot it
either using the provided grub image by grml-terminalserver
(for example via floppy drive) or
using gPXE.
For more information, refer to
the grml-terminalserver
webpage.

Long(er) answer: yes it's possible to install Grml. But it's not
supported and you'll be on your own. That's why we decided to make it
not-so-obvious. If you really know what you're doing you'll find out on
your own. Reminder: use grml-debootstrap or Debian Installer instead.

Do you have a question which is not answered in the FAQ or
in the provided documentation (execute
"grml-info" on your Grml system for offline
documentation)? Also check out 'grml-tips $KEYWORD' on your
Grml system. Take a look at
the Grml website and the
grml-wiki. A good place to become part of the community is the Grml mailinglist.

You want to deploy Grml in your data center, use it as part of your
business or have an emergency case? You're happy with Grml but would
like to get your very own live cd (providing your favourite software
selection, special configuration, setup and your bootsplash)?
Please get in touch with us.

Sponsors

Grml is sponsored by several companies. For more information about our sponors check out the Sponsors webpage. Our main sponsors are: